Our family musician

We’re not much of a musical family. Ask me the artist or name of a song and nine times out of ten, I’m going to get it wrong. My ability to carry a tune is equally as impressive. It’s looking like our most musical member of the family is going to be Emelyn. At a very early age we noticed her love of musical toys – you know the ones you banned from your house because they were loud and obnoxious – she loves those! And yes, after depriving Aubrey of them as a toddler, we basically have a full orchestra now – Fisher Price, VTech, LeapFrog – our inventory is vast. 

Emelyn with one of her favorite singing, light up toys
just before her 2nd birthday.

Where my ability to “name that tune” dramatically improves is in the genre of children’s songs. It’s sad, I know, but when Emelyn is downright inconsolable, all I have to do is start singing one of her favorites: Bingo, the Sesame Street theme song, Old McDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider (bet you don’t know the second verse to Itsy Bitsy Spider), and so on. Yes, the little gal loves to be sung to and she doesn’t even care that my voice is far from in-tune.

When we discovered music therapy last year, we couldn’t help but give it a try. Offered through Easter Seals, the service coordinator for Emelyn’s Early Intervention services, it’s a small group therapy session with Emelyn’s peers. Some have developmental delays, but some do not. It’s very fast paced and surprisingly not chaotic. In the course of 45 minutes, they sing and play instruments to about ten songs. There are big drums and little drums, scarves and parachutes, tambourines and bells, wood blocks and triangles, and all the other fun, kid-friendly instruments you remember from elementary school. 

Emelyn drumming with her music buddies
at music therapy.

At first, Emelyn didn’t have the stamina to stay engaged through the entire class. A year ago, just sitting up for an hour at a time was exhausting, but adding singing, instruments, and other kids was more than she could handle. Recently, I had the chance to attend one of Emelyn’s music therapy sessions. It was exciting to see how far she’s come. She still does a lot of watching – she’s mesmerized by music therapist Hope’s guitar and she doesn’t quite know what to make of the other kids. But, she’s also occasionally using a mallet to hit the drum, shaking the bells during a song, or choosing between instruments when given the choice. She’s also going strong after the 45 minute class, which is impressive.

While it may not look all that impressive,
holding two objects, one in each hand, is a
relatively new skill for Emelyn.

Music therapy has lots of great benefits for kids like Emelyn. It can stimulate cognitive, behavioral, physical, emotional, and social skills. It can also help facilitate the development of communication skills, which is a top priority for Emelyn. Beyond the benefits, it’s been fun to give Emelyn an outlet for her love of music. Who knows, maybe she’ll be a musician someday…or at least be better at “name that tune” than her dear old mom.  

Emelyn has loved music therapist Hope's guitar from day one.